Had a very pleasant surprise this morning when I checked one of the guitar forums I look at regularly. There was a private message from a member thanking me for a tip I had given him a few months ago in a thread about how to conquer a common but difficult barre chord. He had applied my tip and for the first time in 40 years of playing was finally making progress with that annoying chord. Hooray!

Generally speaking, guitar forums are good places for all kinds of information about guitars and playing. Experience with a particular model of guitar, information about tweaks to guitars and sound systems that make the playing experience feel better and sound better, mini reviews of shows attended or albums and artists discovered and much more. I’ve discovered plenty of artists who I might not have otherwise heard thanks to the forums. It’s also good to hear some opinions of various guitars before taking the plunge on a big purchase.

But like all online forums no matter the area of interest, you have to take everything you read with a few grains of salt. In other words, you have to make a guess about the person writing an entry and what their motivation might be. It all comes back to the anonymity of most internet forums. When a person is hiding behind a screen name they sometimes feel they can post pretty much whatever they want and sometimes comments can contain false information or even be downright nasty. On fishing forums I visit this is especially true so I never post anything on those sites because it kind of feels like I’m putting a big target on my back.

For the most part, guitar forums are much more benign and friendly. Yes, you get certain members who want the world to know they are experts on the minutia of all things guitar related. What their posts usually do – and are often unintentionally funny to read – is bring out other self-styled experts and arguments ensue. Fortunately, the forums I look at the most (The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum and The Acoustic Guitar Forum) are vigorously moderated and nastiness is not tolerated.

Then there is the issue of repeated subjects in threads. Sometimes that’s OK, such as the frequent ones about experiences travelling on airlines with guitars where rules may change and good tips can often be found. But others are tedious. How many times do we need to debate the relative merits of bone vs. plastic saddles, nuts and bridge pins? Ultimately, it must be remembered that almost all opinions are based on anecdotal experience and not cold, hard fact. And geez, I sometimes think people don’t know how a “search” button works!

There is no question that some members of the guitar forums are truly experts in things like guitar construction, electronics, professional experiences and the retail world. This is the real value of those forums. Pre-internet you had to read a lot, visit music stores or be fortunate enough to know professionals in those fields to glean relevant information. Now, between the forums and YouTube you can find good information on just about anything guitar-related with a few clicks. In fact, there can be almost too much information and some of it is conflicting. In subjects such as guitar repair I still think it makes sense to let a true expert do what needs to be done in all but the simplest repairs rather than take the advice you find on a forum or try to replicate a repair you see on YouTube.

In the best cases you can develop life-long friendships with other guitarists who frequent the forums. You can also learn about gatherings of guitarists in your area where you can have some fun playing with others, gatherings that you would have no knowledge about without the forums. I have become friendly with a few players who live far from me but I hope someday to meet and play with. I have the advantage of living in a very well-known and popular tourist destination so once or twice I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people from the forums when they come to Cape Cod on vacation.

Buying and selling guitars on the forums is a huge subject, one that I wrote about a while back but probably merits a revisit in the near future. In short, you have to have a good degree of trust. The forums I mentioned have a stated policy of a 48-hour try-out period before the sale is final but ultimately, short of a protracted battle on Pay Pal or via your credit card company, there is no way to get your money back if a guitar turns out to be less than what was presented on a guitar forum and the seller refuses to refund your money. I’ve only been burned once on a buy in the 15 or so years I’ve been buying and selling on the forums but that was kind of my own fault. The buyer wanted USPS money orders for the guitar (supposedly he didn’t have or like a Pay Pal account and I wasn’t savvy enough to pay with a credit card), which was just like sending cash. The guitar in question was in much, much worse condition than his pictures or description indicated and he refused to take it back and refund my money. I called him out on the forum but the damage was done. I took a $500 hit on that guitar when I sold it a year or so later. Lesson learned. Bottom line here is you must have as much knowledge as you can about a particular model you’re considering and LOTS of communication with the seller, even phone calls to “feel him out” are absolutely essential. Go with your gut. If something just doesn’t feel right, walk away.

But overall the buying and selling experiences have been very positive for me. In some cases I’ve scored guitars at considerable savings, too. Just….do your homework!!!

The guy who emailed me today sounds like a great person who’s passionate about his playing. He made a comment that my students are lucky to have me as their teacher. Even an old dog likes to have his head scratched once in a while.

Figured I’d better check in here so my regular readers don’t think I was devoured by a bear on my recent fishing trip to Wyoming. I wasn’t. Just one of the many reasons I fully intend to return to that spectacular part of our wonderful country next September. I think it is kind of sad that many people don’t travel to see the incredible beauty and variety of the United States. There is no better way to broaden your perspective. Just do it! OK, guitar stuff…

In the last couple of weeks I sold two absolutely amazing guitars to students of mine, a recent Martin 00-18 and a Martin Custom Shop OM. Both students deserved an upgrade from their present instruments and to say they are thrilled would be an understatement. And here’s the best part: I absolutely believe that owning a fine guitar after spending time with an average one can only make you a better player. It’s kind of a circular thing. You buy a new and great guitar, which you just can’t put down. So you’re playing more, which makes you a better player. As your skills increase you appreciate that fine instrument even more. So you play more. And the circle keeps moving. I love that!

In about a week a dear friend who lives in Pennsylvania is coming for a visit and I am really looking forward to it. He is a recreational mandolin player and likes nothing better than to noodle along as I play pretty much any song. He is not a slick player but his absolute joy when he plays is infectious. He is also legally blind and has only marginal eyesight, seeing only shadows. But never once in the fifty-plus years I’ve known him have I heard him complain. He truly takes every day as a gift and will not let his handicap slow him down any more than is absolutely has to. I also owe him a big debt of gratitude as his encouragement about 20 years ago gave me the kick in the ass I needed at that time to keep playing. I love him like a brother and I know I’ll have sore fingers from playing by the time he leaves.

I’ll be playing a wedding ceremony and reception this coming weekend. Recently I bought a domain name that I’m going to use for a new website I’ll be building over the next couple of months for people looking for wedding music on Cape Cod. While I really like playing wedding ceremonies and cocktail hours in many respects it can also be a bit of a PIA if you are unlucky enough to have to deal with a classic Bride From Hell. Fortunately that has only happened to me a couple times in 50-plus weddings I’ve played in last ten years or so. The key to making everything run smoothly is to explain as gently as possible that very few if any people at the ceremony will take much notice of the music, as long as it is performed in a tasteful manner and the musician is good at taking cues. In other words, it’s not a concert; the function of the music is to add to the joyful ambiance of the event. And little things like the fact that I am just one guy with a guitar and not a full band need to be understood when “special” songs are requested. In my experience, few if any brides – or wedding coordinators for that matter – realize that a wedding processional goes by quite quickly unless the bride walks a LONG way very slowly! So that processional song might only be played for a minute or so. Anyway, keep an eye out for my new site (separate from this one) in the near future.

New music is something I listen for all the time and one of the best albums I’ve heard lately is by the Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. I’ve always liked his music and admired his guitar playing, although his lyrics are often rather dark, angry and cynical, which is the main reason I don’t use many of his songs with my students. This new album however is all instrumental pieces and some of them are just breathtaking. Highly recommended if you’re a fan of finger-style acoustic guitar.

Next week I’ll be receiving one of the much talked-about “sinker” mahogany Martin D-18’s from Gruhn Music in Nashville. These guitars are supposed to have amazing vintage sound right out of the box because they are made from mahogany that was harvested in Belize in the late 1800s and early 1900s and then sunken (hence the name) in rivers there. Some of those logs were recently discovered, purchased by Martin and then carefully dried. Used for the guitar back and sides and paired with an Adirondack spruce top they have received glowing reviews from anyone who’s played one. For example, after Gruhn received their initial shipment of 12 guitars, Vince Gill came in and bought three (!). In the recent PBS Ken Burns documentary on country music Vince is holding one as he was interviewed. Apparently there is only enough of the sinker mahogany to make about 240 instruments, all of which are promised to Gruhn so between that and the fact that Vince (who is one of my favorite guitarists) loved them I knew I had to have one. Details soon after I’ve played mine for a while.

I’ve received lots of wonderful comment about the feature on Yours Truly in the recent issues of the Enterprise newspapers. This has been very gratifying and much appreciated. At the very least, it gave voice to my background for my children and grandchildren, something that I think is very important.

Finally, for all you guitarists who live in this part of the world, don’t forget that winter is looming and with it the use of central heating in our homes. Be sure to properly humidify your guitar. Dryness is the enemy of wood!